You hired a new PM – great! Just remember that it doesn’t matter how wonderful your new PM is, you still have to spend some time showing him or her the ropes in your organization.
1. Review general org chart with your new PM
Most organizations these days don’t have a definite org chart because people are moving in and out too quickly or there are too many re-orgs for anyone to lock the hierarchy down. But that doesn’t mean you can’t try. You should let the PM know the main players in each team and who rolls up to whom — especially those he will be interacting with — and if there are any “special” characters (hey, every office has those brilliant people that you need to treat with kid gloves to get things done). Introduce them to key folks in Product Management, Design, Software development, Marketing/Sales, Editorial, Customer Service and Business Development.
2. Process Walkthrough
The process from project inception (whether through formal project charters or just some higher-up saying “Let’s do this!”) to discovery (requirements gathering) to construction (development) to testing and launch is different from firm to firm (and sometimes even team to team) so it is important to give your PM a run down of the project process and methodologies (agile? waterfall? lean? hybrid?) used at your firm. Diagram and outline the various environments the developers work in, how code is moved from one place to another, what the project request and requirements gathering process is, and how to work with the creative teams. If you can, give your PM a list of all the dev, stg, qa, production links and a login for all the systems he will be monitoring and testing, as well as all the ticket request links (if he needs to request a workorder from the design team or the tech support team or file a bug).
3. Don’t expect your PM to jump into running meetings on Day 1
Most PMs are capable of running from the start but you should bring him around the office and introduce him to folks, let him sit in on meetings he will eventually be taking over, and send a fun introduction note to the company so they know a new PM has started, what he will be working on and here are some fun things he likes to do outside of work.
4. Set Expectations with your PM
Explain to your PM why he is in this role. Is this a troubled team or product and you expect him to turn things around? This helps the PM adjust his approach. Set some 30, 60, 90 day goals before setting the longer term 6-12 month goals. Also make sure you set up weekly one-on-one time with your PM. It is important that you do all you can to ensure your new PM gets out of the gate in a good light and gains trust and respect among the team and the other teams he will be interacting with. The moment a PM is tagged as “ineffective,” “useless,” “clueless,” then it becomes hard to overcome that reputation.
5. Provide some insider tips for the PM
No, not the stock buying kind. It may have taken you 5 or 10 years to learn how to maneuver the political battlefield in the office, or how to get around certain corporate systems or gain favors with the operations team but it doesn’t hurt to relay some of these tips to the new guy. Send over some links to useful intranet and wiki sites that he should bookmark. The diligent PMs will ask lots of questions anyway and jump right in but any tips to the fast track are always appreciated. If you want your PM to succeed and be effective, help him out!